Soon, PG medical and dental dissertations to go through Anti-Plagiarism Software

Bengaluru: Amidst immense study pressure, some of the medical students are frequently seen copying content from different sites in a bid to complete their dissertations. Meanwhile, this resort drastically affects the hard work of those deserving students who have put a lot of effort to complete their thesis.

Therefore, taking serious cognition of this issue, the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) has decided to acquire anti-plagiarism software for instant verification of the genuineness of the dissertations.

Confirming the information, MK Ramesh, Registrar (Evaluation) of RGUHS told The Hindu, “The dissertations of 2,800 postgraduate medical and dental students will be checked using the software. We have decided that the guide, head of department, and principal should certify that the research report is not plagiarised and sign on it.”

Reproducing around 15% of the content with proper citations was acceptable, added the Registrar.

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However, the medical university is yet to decide as to which software shall be procured. The varsity will be seeking expert opinion on the technical specifications and then only the concerned authorities will call for tender. Since 2017, all thesis submissions are being done online.

Move welcomed

The medical students as well the faculties are glad about the announcement of the initiative. While some have called it a move which will make the students more cautious, some were concerned it not to be a pre-made deal of medical college management with some students.

“It will help students who have worked hard to reap the benefits. And students who normally copy paste from the Internet will now be more cautious,” said a PG student.

A professor attached with a city-based medical college told The Hindu that while colleges should be mandated to do the checks, the university should do another round of check to make sure there is no plagiarism.

“The university should do this to ensure that the college managements are not handed in glove with students,” he added.

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